


needle and thread

by dizzy



Series: byebye 20gayteen daily fic advent [16]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Blood, Injury, M/M, Medical Care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 06:11:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17017236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzy/pseuds/dizzy
Summary: prompt:“In The Half Light” timestamp, anything appreciated, particularly interested in something to do with the struggle of living in a post-tech-communication world, but only if that inspires you, I’ll take anything in the ITHL universe :D





	needle and thread

Phil's hands are stained red and he's not doing too well with remembering to breathe. It's Dan that keeps telling him he needs to, which is ridiculous since it's also Dan dripping blood onto the snow with every step they take. 

The towel they've got wrapped around his leg doesn't seem to be stopping it at all. Phil knows it probably needs more pressure on it, but Dan can't put his weight on that leg and he needs Phil supporting him to walk. 

And they have to walk. They have to get to the big house. Phil has to do it, he has to help Dan there, he has to make sure Dan's okay. 

He has to stop imagining that Dan's going to bleed out on the way. It's hard to control his mind when Dan looks so ashen, though, when it seems like the only color on him is the red seeping through the cloth wrapped around his calf. 

The gash looked so deep from what Phil saw, pouring ice cold water over it to try and clean it the best he could. There was no bone visible but he can't stop wondering if it cut through muscle, if it cut anything else important - maybe Dan won't be able to walk, maybe it'll get infected and he'll lose his leg- 

The house is in view now. Phil starts to shout as soon as he thinks someone might hear him. It's taken so long to get here, twice as long as it normally would have. There was just no way - Dan couldn't go faster and Phil couldn't carry him. 

It's a cousin of his that spots them first, friendly greeting turning alarmed when she sees the state of them. Phil knows he probably looks like he's been through a massacre. Dan's leg had been in his lap when they tried to staunch the flow, so there's blood on his shirt and the legs of his pants. 

Dan almost looks better than he does, from the knees up. But his socks and shoes are drenched in red and his pants are pulled up on one side. Phil makes the mistake of looking down again and his stomach gives a violent turn. 

He forces the feeling away. He can't now, doesn't have time. 

Someone else runs outside to help Phil bring Dan in. Dan slumps between their bodies, giving up supporting his own weight as soon as he knows he won't fall. 

He passes out a few seconds later. 

*

It might have been best if he'd stayed unconscious, Phil thinks, as he stands behind his mum and watches her sterilize a sewing needle in a cup of boiling water. 

There's more boiling water off to the side. They have to make sure the wound is cleaned, she's explained. There's no point in making sure everything else is sterile if the wound itself isn't. 

She doesn't need to say how bad infection would be. It's not as though they're without antibiotics entirely here, but means are limited. They won't be able to get medicine until the infection has already set in. Preventative measures mean a lot more than they used to. 

"Are you ready?" She asks Dan. 

Dan's eyes are red and bloodshot and his skin still looks too pale. His dad keeps reassuring Phil that Dan didn't lose as much blood as it seems, but Phil's not stupid. He lost enough for everyone to be casting worried glances around. 

Especially Karen. She's sat by Dan still, holding one of his hands in both of hers.

"I'm ready," Dan says. Karen must squeeze his hand extra hard because Dan looks at her and says, "I'm not going to die, Mum. But I might end up with broken fingers if you don't let go."

"Actually," Kathryn says. "I could use a spot of help, if you don't mind." 

Karen seems relieved to have a job. Phil immediately takes her place, and grabs Dan's hand. Dan grips back reassuringly, looking up at Phil. 

He's terrified, Phil can see. 

"Dan," Kath says softly. "This is going to hurt." 

Dan nods. His jaw is clenched so hard Phil's concerned it'll hurt him tomorrow. Though, his next thought supplies, it probably won't hurt more than the stitches Kathryn about to put in. 

She's made of stronger stuff than Phil. Her hands don't shake at all as she cleans the wound. Karen holds Dan's leg so he can't jerk it away as they pour on the water. The thick layers of towel underneath Dan are soaked pink now with a mix of the blood and hot water. 

Phil has to turn his head when the needle goes in. 

*

Dan passes out again three stitches in. 

Phil hates the way Dan's hand goes limp in his, but Kath tells him it's a good thing. "Wouldn't be anything but hurting if he stayed awake," she says. "And there's less resistance this way." 

She does finish faster now. Phil still can't look but she announces when she's done and he feels a weight off his chest. 

"Now we've got to get him into dry, clean clothes. He's sweated up a mess," she says. "Phil, why don't you go get some fresh linens and bathe him down before we dress him, won't you?" 

Phil loses track of what everyone else is doing. He knows they're finding something for Dan to wear and getting a bed ready for him, but his whole world distills down to Dan once the room has emptied. 

He takes the bowl of warm water his mum left and sets about wiping smears of dried blood and sweat from Dan's skin. He goes through four cloth rags before he thinks the job is done, working around the big patch of gauze his mum's taped over the stitches. It covers half the length of Dan's calf. He'll have to ask his mum later how deep it really was. Right now he just needs to focus on how that part is done and there's nothing left but for the healing to start. 

There are no clothes yet so Dan is left naked but clean when Phil's finished. He can't bring himself to walk away, but he's thinking he'll have to when the door finally opens. 

It's Karen, holding a bundle of clothes. "He's not awake yet?" 

Phil shakes his head. "Come in, though." 

While she's turned to make sure the door is shut, he pulls the blanket up over Dan. No need in having his bits on display, even if Karen is his mum. 

(Dan would definitely both thank and mock him for the thought.) 

"I brought these." She hands Phil the clothes. "Kathryn says it's best if Dan doesn't try to walk on that for a few days. They're clearing out a room now that the two of you can stay in." 

"I'll have to go back home later and get some things." Phil hates the idea. Maybe he can push it until tomorrow. 

Dan starts to stir. 

"Oh-" Karen reaches into her pocket. "I've also got these, they're just regular tablets but Kath sent for someone to see if they'll give us real painkillers to get him through the next day or two. That might take the edge off in the meantime, though." 

"Thank you." Phil takes them and puts them by the table. 

Dan lets out a tortured sound, eyes squeezing shut and brow furring. The first word out of his mouth is, "Fuck." 

Phil has to laugh. It's that or cry again. He pushes Dan's hair back up off his forehead where a stray, slightly overgrown curl has fallen. "I know." 

"Give me death," Dan rasps. "Please." 

"Afraid not," Phil says. 

"Not likely," Karen agrees. 

"Mum." Dan's eyes finally flutter open. "Can you kiss it and make it better?" 

She laughs. "That stopped working when you were eight, love." 

"Here." Phil reaches for the glass of water the needle had been sterilized in, now tepid from how long it's sat there. "There are tablets for you." 

"Will they make my leg disappear?" Dan struggles and finally sits up, letting his mum arrange a pillow behind him to ease the effort. He swallows both down at once, a sign of how much pain he's in. Dan normally hates taking tablets. 

"We're trying to get you something stronger," Phil says. 

"Thanks." Dan leans back and takes a deep breath, then looks at Phil. "You look like shit." 

Phil wants to laugh, but he also knows it's true. "Yeah." 

*

Phil helps Dan get dressed, appreciating the sacrifice someone - probably his dad - made at cutting the stretchy bottoms off a pair of joggers so they won't press against Dan's wound. 

He takes the dirty clothes to his mum. He knows where the laundry is, but this is just where his feet took him. 

"Sweet boy," she says, reading him correctly with just a glance. She takes the clothes and then pulls him into her arms for a long, tight hug. "You need to sort yourself out, child." 

He looks down. He's still wearing the disgusting, bloody clothes he showed up in. "I don't have anything to wear." 

"Go wash up in our bathroom upstairs and I'll have your dad leave you some." She smooths his hair down, then kisses his forehead. "He's fine, you know. He's strong, and he'll heal well." 

Phil nods along, even though it's hard for him to convince his still racing mind that it's true. 

*

They move Dan while he's washing off. It's a ground floor bedroom, one that belongs to one of his cousins that lives in the house now. He'll have to remember to buy her something extra nice for giving up her space to them. 

Dan's awake but clearly fighting sleep. 'There you are," he says, when Phil walks in. "You look better." 

"Just for you," Phil says, immediately crawling into bed beside Dan, on Dan's good side. It's not even dark yet but he feels like he's lived a hundred years in the past three hours. 

"Smell better too." Dan kisses his forehead almost exactly where his mum had. 

"How are you?" Phil asks quietly. 

"I literally want to cut my leg off," Dan says. "But I'm okay. You did good, Phil." 

Phil feels suddenly like a puppet whose strings have been cut. He starts to cry, messy tears. Dan is unphased; they've lived through enough moments where it feels like the world is ending to understand the shape that each other's breakdowns come in. 

He lets Phil cry and when Phil is done crying he sheds a few tears of his own. The kiss they share is salty and wet and beautiful. "I love you." 

"Not getting rid of me that easily," Dan says. 

Phil wraps an arm around Dan's chest and kisses his shoulder. "Good."


End file.
